Boynton Woman Inspired By Egg-decorating Craft

October 30, 1986|By SUZANNE RAMSEY, Special to the Sun-Sentinel

Skaters glide on a frozen pond, below a snow-covered hillside dotted with skiers. Two furry white kittens sit on a tuft of pink, staring wide-eyed at a frightened field mouse. A handsome bridal couple poses in a jeweled and filigreed archway.

Leone Milloy of Boynton Beach has created these and other scenes in the shells of duck, ostrich, quail, chicken, rhea and goose eggs. Decorated with ribbon, braid, pearls, glittery beads and decoupage, the eggs are exhibited on gold and silver stands or music boxes.

``First you must decide on a theme,`` Milloy said, ``and then you look for things that will carry it out.``

The bridal couple, displayed in an ostrich egg trimmed with wedding bells, ribbons and bows, is a remnant of her 50th wedding anniversary cake. Many other figures and decorative materials were bought when she was on a 90-day trip around the world with her husband, George, after his retirement several years ago.

The art of egg decorating, or ``eggeury,`` was first popularized in the late 1880s by Peter Carl Faberge, goldsmith and jeweler to the Russian Imperial Court.

To find favor with the czars, Faberge adorned eggs with gold, silver and precious gems.

Milloy was inspired to pursue the hobby about 20 years ago, while visiting a friend in Texas who decorated goose eggs.

``I couldn`t wait to get home and find some goose eggs and get started myself,`` she said.

But when Milloy returned to her Long Island home, she could not find any goose eggs, so she settled for duck eggs, which she decorated and gave to her grandchildren for Christmas tree ornaments.

Later, another friend arranged for her to receive a shipment of eight ostrich eggs from Africa.

``People often ask me how long it takes to make them,`` Milloy said. ``But that`s hard to say, because I always do two or three at a time.``

Currently, she is working on an egg with an Oriental theme, which will stand on a music box that plays Sayonara and is a miniature replica of a Japanese rickshaw. She also is assembling the materials for an egg with a nativity theme, one of her favorites, she said.

A few years ago, Milloy displayed her eggs at the Delray Beach Library. Many who admired them there were disappointed to find that they were not for sale.

``I`ve never been interested in selling them,`` she said, ``but I`ve given several of them away to my family and friends, as gifts for holidays and special occasions.``

Milloy credits Jackie Castro, owner of Jackie`s Creative Craft Center in Deerfield Beach, with much of her success.

Jackie`s center offers instruction in eggeury as well as a large supply of eggeury materials, Milloy said.

Besides basic instruction, Milloy said, anyone interested in taking up the craft needs creative ideas, a persistence in seeking out just the right materials, ``and most of all, patience.``